Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has officially paused its controversial employee tracking program that spied on employees’ computer activity amid data security concerns and growing internal frustration.
The program, dubbed Model Capability Initiative (MCI), allows Meta to observe and collect from employees’ actions on their work systems. The gathered data helps Meta’s AI models learn how people actually complete everyday tasks using computers. According to reports, MCI captured everything from employee keystrokes and mouse clicks to content displayed on computer screens.
Meta’s employee tracking program had sparked concerns
The initiative is as controversial as it sounds on paper. More than 1,600 Meta employees had signed a petition against the tool, demanding that the company does not harvest employee ‘computer use’ data.
The petition said: “Collecting and repurposing this kind of data raises serious concerns around privacy, consent, and trust in the workplace.”
Meta put a lid on the controversial employee tracking program only after it found severe security lapses. According to reports based on internal documents and employee accounts, the data was left accessible across thousands of internal data tables, including AI prompts, transcriptions, private chats, and performance-related information.
Meta employee, who also asked not to be identified, said the controversial AI training program has become a cultural issue, rather than a technical one.
After public backlash, Meta scaled back and then paused the initiative. The company is currently investigating the employee tracking tool and confirmed it has paused the MCI.
“We have carefully designed this program with privacy safeguards, and while we have no indication at this time that any data was improperly accessed by Meta employees, we’re pausing it while we investigate,” a spokesperson told outlets.
AI ambitions deepen employee frustrations
Meta’s widely controversial employee tracking tool is tied to CEO Zuckerberg’s ambitious efforts to catch up to generative AI. Over the years, the company has lagged behind behemoths like Anthropic, Google and OpenAI.
Zuckerberg is spending up to $145 billion in capital expenditures, with much of it going into AI investments.
“Things at Meta are going from bad to worse,” one current employee told The HR Digest.
Another Meta employee, who also asked not to be identified, said the controversial AI training program has become a cultural issue, rather than a technical one. Employees who support Meta’s AI ambitions still objected to the lack of transparency around its MCI program.
The incident raises questions about whether Meta employees feel psychologically safe with the direction in which the company is going. Frustration appears to have mounted with extensive layoffs due to AI expansion and repeated reorganizations within the company.
Many employees see Meta’s AI push as chaotic rather than strategic.
A former Meta employee told The HR Digest that the company’s direction was “depressing“. Several employees have indicated a growing fatigue from its AI ambitions.
There have been several reports of Meta employees openly insulting management in internal meetings. The latest security lapse suggests a growing divide between Zuckerberg’s ambitions and Meta employees’ day-to-day experiences at the company.
The HR Digest for more insights on workplace trends, layoffs, and what to expect with the advent of AI.
